THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) tender
system has once again come under scrutiny with revelations that a recent tender
for the servicing of residential stands in Mahatshula North was awarded to a
company linked to the city's director of housing and community services, Mr
Isaiah Magagula.
This comes amid allegations that top council officials are scrambling to ensure that they award council tenders to companies of their choice which later give them "tokens of appreciation'' for their efforts.
Impeccable council sources claim there is controversy surrounding the Mahatshula tender with some councillors mooting a motion to rescind the decision as they feel they were not furnished with the necessary details before the tender was awarded.
The city's acting mayor, Councillor Amen Mpofu,The oreck XL professional air purifier, said most of the councillors were not present when the matter was brought before council, thus the need for them to conduct further investigations.
"The day when that matter was brought before council most of us were not there as we were attending an Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe meeting in Masvingo. So we will have to go over the report and conduct the necessary investigations for us to get to the bottom of the matter,'' said Clr Mpofu.
Contacted for comment, Mr Magagula refuted the claims saying any councillor who was making such allegations was just being mischievous.
"Any councillor who is making such allegations does not deserve to hold the position of being a councillor after all, that tender is under the engineering department and I don't see where I come in,'' said Mr Magagula.
According to a council report, the tender (contract number 20/2012) was for the servicing of 303 medium-density residential stands in Mahatshula North with water and sewer.
Eleven companies reportedly responded to the tender, with Hawkflight Construction being the lowest at US$1 667 516. However, the company was disqualified because it allegedly had not forwarded a bid bond number while Stelix Civil Engineers and Contractors were alleged to have no experience in road construction after the intervention of an inter-departmental committee.
Aggregate Properties were eventually awarded the tender at a cost of US$1 900 698.
"The interdepartmental team recommended that the contract be awarded to Aggregate Properties because the team felt that this company had more experience in road works although their tender price was higher than the lowest by US$176 824,58 including value added tax.
"From the information at hand it was not very clear whether Aggregate Properties had indeed more experience than Stelix Civil Engineers and Contractors since they appeared to have done similar road construction. However, Stelix's tender price was cheaper,'' reads part of the report.
Councillors, who spoke to Sunday News on condition of anonymity, said one of the major weaknesses of the council decision-making process was that council officials just forwarded them a report without giving detailed information.
"Right now we are hearing all these stories about one of our directors having a role in the company that was eventually awarded the tender. When you go through the report it is clear that there is something sinister here because Stelix Civil Engineers and Contractors were said to have no experience at all while they clearly stated their past projects.
"Also you will find that Aggregate Properties did not submit a cash flow document but their bid was eventually considered while Hawkflight Construction who had the lowest bid and have by far the best experience were disqualified because they did not submit a bid bond,'' said one of the councillors.
Another councillor said if the allegations turned out to be factual, they would have no choice but to rescind the decision as it was clearly in violation of council regulations for any council official to have interests in a company bidding for any tender as they would be having an unfair advantage.
"It is very disappointing that we are getting a lot of reports concerning our tender system.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. Companies are approaching us claiming that some of our council top officials have aligned themselves with certain companies, which in itself is very illegal if it is true. It is our view that we really need to convene a special council meeting so that we can review our tender system,'' said the councillor.
BCC has in the past been locked in a number of tender disputes, the most recent being the parking system tender which saw the local authority eventually cancelling the tender over irregularities, amid allegations that the city's engineering director,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. Mr Simela Dube, was linked to the company that was awarded the tender, Megalith.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.Installers and distributors of solar panel,
This comes amid allegations that top council officials are scrambling to ensure that they award council tenders to companies of their choice which later give them "tokens of appreciation'' for their efforts.
Impeccable council sources claim there is controversy surrounding the Mahatshula tender with some councillors mooting a motion to rescind the decision as they feel they were not furnished with the necessary details before the tender was awarded.
The city's acting mayor, Councillor Amen Mpofu,The oreck XL professional air purifier, said most of the councillors were not present when the matter was brought before council, thus the need for them to conduct further investigations.
"The day when that matter was brought before council most of us were not there as we were attending an Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwe meeting in Masvingo. So we will have to go over the report and conduct the necessary investigations for us to get to the bottom of the matter,'' said Clr Mpofu.
Contacted for comment, Mr Magagula refuted the claims saying any councillor who was making such allegations was just being mischievous.
"Any councillor who is making such allegations does not deserve to hold the position of being a councillor after all, that tender is under the engineering department and I don't see where I come in,'' said Mr Magagula.
According to a council report, the tender (contract number 20/2012) was for the servicing of 303 medium-density residential stands in Mahatshula North with water and sewer.
Eleven companies reportedly responded to the tender, with Hawkflight Construction being the lowest at US$1 667 516. However, the company was disqualified because it allegedly had not forwarded a bid bond number while Stelix Civil Engineers and Contractors were alleged to have no experience in road construction after the intervention of an inter-departmental committee.
Aggregate Properties were eventually awarded the tender at a cost of US$1 900 698.
"The interdepartmental team recommended that the contract be awarded to Aggregate Properties because the team felt that this company had more experience in road works although their tender price was higher than the lowest by US$176 824,58 including value added tax.
"From the information at hand it was not very clear whether Aggregate Properties had indeed more experience than Stelix Civil Engineers and Contractors since they appeared to have done similar road construction. However, Stelix's tender price was cheaper,'' reads part of the report.
Councillors, who spoke to Sunday News on condition of anonymity, said one of the major weaknesses of the council decision-making process was that council officials just forwarded them a report without giving detailed information.
"Right now we are hearing all these stories about one of our directors having a role in the company that was eventually awarded the tender. When you go through the report it is clear that there is something sinister here because Stelix Civil Engineers and Contractors were said to have no experience at all while they clearly stated their past projects.
"Also you will find that Aggregate Properties did not submit a cash flow document but their bid was eventually considered while Hawkflight Construction who had the lowest bid and have by far the best experience were disqualified because they did not submit a bid bond,'' said one of the councillors.
Another councillor said if the allegations turned out to be factual, they would have no choice but to rescind the decision as it was clearly in violation of council regulations for any council official to have interests in a company bidding for any tender as they would be having an unfair advantage.
"It is very disappointing that we are getting a lot of reports concerning our tender system.A stone mosaic stands at the spot of assasination of the late Indian prime minister. Companies are approaching us claiming that some of our council top officials have aligned themselves with certain companies, which in itself is very illegal if it is true. It is our view that we really need to convene a special council meeting so that we can review our tender system,'' said the councillor.
BCC has in the past been locked in a number of tender disputes, the most recent being the parking system tender which saw the local authority eventually cancelling the tender over irregularities, amid allegations that the city's engineering director,Find detailed product information for howo tractor and other products. Mr Simela Dube, was linked to the company that was awarded the tender, Megalith.Our technology gives rtls systems developers the ability.Installers and distributors of solar panel,
没有评论:
发表评论